Process of refining oil



April 29 1924.

PRESS UB5 GA [/55 1,492,273 B. v. sToLL PROCESS OF REFINING OIL Filed Oct. 28 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 B. V. STOLL PROCESS OF REFINING OIL Filed Oct. 28, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr, 29, @240 STATE rattan e eerie/a.

- nann v. BWUL, or nonnsmnn, nnn'rn'onr.

enemies or nnrrnrna era.

Application filed @cto'ter 28, 1919. Serial Ho. 338,9?8.

To all whom it may concern-.7

Be it known that I, BERRY V. S'roLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville in the county of Jefierson and.

- improved process of cracking.

Cracking processes are based on the well-known natural law that complex hydrocarbons, under certain temperature and pressure conditions will decompose or split up into their component elements which will again unite to form different arran ements of their atoms and thus produce ydrocarbons of lower order and possessing different hysical properties and differing in their c emicalstructure. Thus in the refining of oil, when hydrocarbons of the C T-1 m group or similar groups are subjected to a pressure of from two to three atmospheres and to a temperature of from 650 F. to 1000 F. this natural decomposition takes place and the hydrogen and car- 7 bon atoms are rearranged, the proportion of hydrogen increasing and the pro ortion of carbon decreasing. This natura ly-results in the release or formation of free carbon which in other crackin processes has been of great detriment. T erefore one of the primary objects of the present invention is to evolve a process of crackin in the carrying out of which there'will e practically no formation of free carbon-as such so that this disadvantage of the heretofore practiced. processes of cracking will be overcome and there need be no interruption of the recess for the purpose 0 cleaning the stil s or other parts of the ap paratus as has heretofore been necessary 1n order to remove the accumulation of free carbon. f

Furthermore in the crackmg processes heretofore followed it has been necessary to redistill or rerun the crude product of the process in order to obtain a suitably refined product. The present invention therefore has as its object to evolve a process of cracking, the product of which is a fin-- ished one, for example benzine, and re uires no refining or other treatment to ren er it fit for use,

Phave discovered that if in the refining process the cracking takes place in the presence of steam, little or no free carbon will be formed and my invention is based on this discovery and contemplates the uti-- lization of the same in a manner which will reduce the formation of free carbon to the minimum if not entirel eliminating its formation, and which wil not in any 'way im air the completeness of the crack ing of the crude product and which will result in a much sweeter product than can be obtained by other previously followed methods.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, I will first describe a prethe process, and will then fully describe the process per se.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a view illustrating in a general manner the a paratus; v

Fig.2 is a vertlcal longitudinal sectional view through the still of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line 3- 3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawingsthe numeral 1 indicates a coil furnace which may be of any suitable construction and of any desired size and within which is arran ed a pipe. coil 2 through which the petro cum or crude oilis continuously forced under pressure bymeans of any suitable pump indicated in general by the numeral 3, a pipe 4 leading from the pump to the coils for conducting-the oil to the said coils. A pipe 5 leads from the u per end of the coils 2 to the exterior of t e furnace and, in a manner which will be presently described, is arranged to discharge into the still which is indicated in general f by the numeral 6. A thermometer 7 is interposed at a suitable point in the length'of the pipe 5 as is also a pressure gage 8 and a pressure controlvalve 9, this latter bemg capable of being a recorded by the gage 8 and thermometer 7.

The still is preferably of the construction shown in Fig. 2- ofthe'drawin s and the.

same comprises a drum orjc lin rical bod 10 arranged within a suitab a furnace 1nd 'ferred form of apparatus for carrying outcated in general by the. numeral 11 and which is constructed and so fed as to maintain the still at a uniform and relatively low degree of temperature. The pipe enters the drum through the upper side thereof preferably adjacent the forward end of the drum and communicates with a head 12 having a number of downwardly projecting nozzles 13 through which the oil from the coils 2 may issue in fine streams or jets. A steam supply pipe 14 provided with any suitable type of control valve 15, is led through the forward end of the drum 10 and has a branch 16 which communicates with-a head 17 corresponding to the head 12 and provided with upwardly projecting nozzles 18 equal in number to the nozzles 13 and each located below and opposite a respective one of the said nozzles 13 so that jets of steam issuing from the nozzles 17 will meet and impinge against the jets of oil issuing from the nozzles 13. A branch pipe 19 also leads from the steam supply pipe 14 within the drum 10 and communicates with a pipe 20 which extends longitudinally of the bottom of the drum and is provided in its opvposite sides with series of perforations 21 through which steam will issue in small jets, as most clearlyshown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and sweep over the interior of the wall of the drum at the lower side thereof so as to prevent burning or scorching of the oil and buckling of the wall of the drum.

The lighter or vaporized products of the cracking and distilling process are carried off through a pipe 22 which leads from the top of the drum 10 of the still to a condensing coil or worm 23 located within a cooling tank 24 and provided with an outlet pipe 25 designed to discharge into a tank or other receptacle 26. A pressure controlled valve 27 is interposed in the pipe 22 as is also a pressure gage 28. A thermometer 29 is preferably arranged upon the front of the drum 10 of the still. The heavier or residual products of the process may be drawn off from the still through a pipe 30 which leads from the bottom of the drum, a suitable cutoil valve 31 being provided in this pipe.

In the operation of the apparatus and in the carrying out of the process of the present invention, the crude oil is forced by the pump 3 into the coils 2 under a pressure of approximately one-hundred pounds to the square inch, this pressure being indicated by the gage 8 and m'aintainedby the pressure control valve 9 which is adjusted to remain closed until the pressure in the coil system equals that stated. The fire in the furnace 1 is controlled so as to maintain the oil in the coils 2 at a temperature of approximately 700 F. which temperature may be read uplarge a 5 to thestill and is discharged into the drum 10 where it suddenly expands in the presence of a lower temperature. As an example, the "fire in the furnace 11 will be so controlled as to maintain the still at a temperature ofsbetween 400 F. to 500 F., this temperature being suitable for the distillation of benzine. The pressure within the still is kept at approximately eighty pounds per square inch which will be indicated by the pressure gage 28 and maintained by the pressure controlled valve 27. As before stated, as the hot oil issues in streams or jets from the nozzles 13, these streams or jets are met by the jets of steam issuing from the nozzles 18 so that the'jets of oil are broken up and the greater part of the oil vaporized, the heavier content falling to the bottom of the drum 10 from whence it may be drawn oil through the pipe 30 whenever required. The vaporized products are as before stated carried off through the pipe 22 and are condensed in the condensing worm or coil 23.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the process involves the heating of the crude oil to a cracking temperature under a cracking pressure without at this point actually eifecting a distillation of the lighter content of the crude oil, and the discharge of the oil into the still at a. lower tem era ture and pressure to provide for su den expansion 'which takes place in the presence of steam and during which period the cracking of the oil is effected. I may say that in evolving my process I tried the expedient of injecting steam into the oil during the passage of the latter through the heating coils but failed to obtain as ercentage of light 'distillates as without t e employment of steam althou h there was a considerable reduction in t e amount of free carbon formed. Likewise in operating without steam I obtained an increased percentage of light hydrocarbons but experienced great difficulty on account of the large amount of free carbon formed was practically no free carbon formed and that there was no appreciable decrease in percentage of the light hydrocarbon distillate obtained from a given volume of the crude product. vI also found that by this process I could obtain a sweet product which 1 did not require to be redistilled'lor-subjected v to any other sweetening processjffiIn fee I foundx-that' because of thesudden'iex pmsion of the crude oil'u'nder a .eraelnngi 3 temperature and pressure to a lower tem-'- perature and pressure, I could obtain an aeeaere increased percentage of light hydrocarben dilstillate from a given volume of the crude o1 It would seem reasonable to assume inasmuchas by efiecting the cracking of the oil in the presence of steam, practically no free carbon is formed is in this step the steam is decomposed into its elements,

the hydrogen combining with the members of the C H group and the oxygen uniting with the nascent carbon as it is separated out of the members of the C H -h group, to form members of the CO and CO groups.

It is to be understood that while the oil is cracked at the moment of its entrance into the still 6, this still does not truly constitute a cracking still but is more strictly speaking a sweetening still.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The process of refining oil which comprises subjecting the oil to a cracking temperature at a pressure of approximately one hundred pounds per square inch, and allowing the same to expand under lower cracking temperature conditions and at a ature conditions and at a pressure of approximately eighty pounds to the square inch, and atomizing the oil by means of steam at the moment of its expansion.

3. The process of refining oil which comprises subjecting the oil to a temperature of approximately 700 F. and a pressure of approximately one hundred poundsper square inch, and allowing the same to expand at a temperature of ap roximately between 400 F. and 500 F. an a pressure of approximately eighty pounds per square inch in the presence and subject to the atomizing action of steam.

In testimony whereof I my signature.

BERRY v. s'ronn. [t a] 

